Are you still feeling the love?

This Valentine's day, why not make a commitment to fall back in love. Dedicate some time to where you spend most of your time - at work.

There are days in all our careers when we don't leap out of bed filled with joy about the forthcoming day at work. In fact, sometimes the idea of the coming week can mean that Sunday evening finds you anxious and downright terrified of what the next five days may hold.

Maybe that's fine by you, perhaps for you your job is a means to an end. A way to make sure that you can afford great holidays or life's luxuries, but if not, it's time to take stock and consider what it is that's the problem in your relationship. After all, you will spend 10.5 years at work during your life, you will only spend more time sleeping…

Are you bored?This is one of the most common reasons that people feel unsatisfied at work, and often it can creep up on you. Perhaps you've been in the business for a long period, without much change to your remit. This is the perfect time to decide what you really want from your career. Why not think about your long-term goals and establish what skills gaps you have in your experience. Do you need to work on your communication skills or develop project management techniques? Perhaps you need to take a more commercial approach? Either way, identify key areas you would like to develop, research internal and external training opportunities and book a meeting with your boss. A manager is never unhappy to hear that a member of staff wants to take on more responsibility and learn more…

Are you struggling with your workload? Too much work can be highly stressful and often feels like there isn't any way out of it. But rest assured you are not alone, and it can be managed. The key is to start prioritising and ask for help. Make a complete list of all the projects you're working on and a list of all deliverables in each project, including any deadlines involved. Book a meeting with your line manager and ask to go through your current workload and to seek advice on prioritising - a little flattery never hurts when you're trying to manage too much work! Be clear, confident and professional, state that you're concerned about ensuring quality and that your key focus is to ensure that whilst 'balls aren't dropped' the reputation of the team isn't damaged. Talk about opportunities for delegation or collaboration with your team and make sure to book in follow up meetings and keep your manager appraised of any issues - but make sure it's before any deadlines are missed!

Do you love your job, but are struggling with the commute?The job is perfect, but the location isn't. If you've reached a point where a good book isn't enough to make the journey worthwhile, why not think about how you might be able to start working differently. The options are plentiful and businesses are more open than ever. Legally all employees can now request to work flexibly and this could include:

Working from home one or two days a week

Reducing your hours - if it's financially viable, could you look at working four days a week?

Compressed working - working more hours for four days so you could take each Friday off

Working from another location - perhaps there's another office or affiliate business where you could look at being based in

There is no harm in speaking frankly to your employer about this problem, they would rather look at new ways of working than lose a great member of staff which will cost far more in the long term!

Do you not get on with a colleague? Challenging relationships can be tough at the best of times, but this is particularly true at work. When you've reached a point where you or the work is impacted then realistically there are two options. One, you can confront it head on, and to be honest, which really is the best thing to do in the first instance. Ask your colleague for a coffee and diplomatically talk through your concerns. Don't make accusations or refer to specific incidents, tactfully talk about how you have been feeling and suggest ways that this could be improved. Could it be more regular meetings to ensure communication channels are open? Perhaps it's ensuring a process to make sure that work isn't duplicated.

If you've tried this and can't seem to find a solution, then the second option is to speak to your boss. Be honest, and keep it professional - you want your manager's support, not to get their back up! It might be that you could look moving to another project, or working from a different desk, or perhaps your manager has seen similar issues with other staff and can advise ways for you to manage this difficult situation in the future.

When all else fails…Perhaps you've reached a point where you can't find a solution or achieve any more in your current role, and you've exhausted all possibilities. In which case, it might be time for you to think about moving on. Some people change jobs immediately when they can't see a future there, whereas others dislike change. If you are the latter then there can be lots of reasons for you to stay, particularly security or relationships with colleagues, but if you aren't waking up with glee every morning, it might be time to admit that it's over. It's not you, it's your job!

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